The Bombay high court has cracked the whip on Royal Western India Turf Club Ltd (RWITC), holding it liable to contribute towards the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation Scheme for nearly 400 ‘race day persons’ engaged by it. The club, registered as a Public Amusement Club, under provisions of Bombay Shops and Establishment Act, conducts horse races in Mumbai and Pune. It engages services of ‘race day persons’ to issue tickets and dividends to punters on Race Days only, usually weekends.The HC said the Turf Club was trying to give a “go by’’ to an order of the SC which in 2016 had said race day persons too are covered under ESIC. The HC stayed its order for four weeks. The Club's counsel said it would contemplate filing a review petition now.Justice Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi said by “re-agitating the issue the Club was only attempting to avoid payment of its “statutory liability and also raising certain futile pleas is “also in a way belittling the SC judgment” which “has already fastened the liability on the Club.’’Four decades ago in 1976, RWITC had first challenged a demand made by ESIC for coverage of the casual workers. It ended in a settlement in 1979, but ESIC raised a fresh demand in 1987 and in 1999, asking RWITC to pay Rs 30 lakh as contributions on payments made to such race day persons.In 1988, the RWITC challenged the demand as illegal before the ESI court. In 2005 the ESI court held it to be valid. The matter went to the SC which held that the Club was also covered under the provisions of ESI Act as were ‘race day persons’. These casual workers were covered and entitled to benefits too, pointed out ESIC counsel H V Mehta. The benefits relate to maternity leave, disablement, sickness, un-employment allowance and dependants.Before the HC, in the latest round, the RWITC said these race day persons are gainfully employed elsewhere on weekdays. The Club’s counsel J P Cama argued that the ESIC failed to first decide which employer must pay the contribution under the Act. He said regulation 38 provides for a joint scheme to be submitted to the ESIC by employers, when more than one exists. In the absence of such a scheme, the ESIC has to decide who it considers the employer. Also, it must ascertain what the other employers contribute to determine the Club’s contribution, he argued.The HC dismissed a petition by the Club against an ESI court order disallowing a plea to issue notices to their regular over a 100 “weekday employers”. But the HC allowed petition filed by the ESIC against five RWITC pleas between 2004-06 against corporation’s demand notices for several years.

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